kookykat
10-17-2006, 02:57 AM
Hey, peeps!
Sharon's surgery is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CDT tomorrow (Tuesday (or
Wednesday, for those of you across the international date line)). I've
been told it'll take about 4 to 6 hours, depending on how involved it
gets. The worst part is apparently the pain from where the pelvic bone
is harvested. That hurts pretty much for a while, but should improve
dramatically over about the first 7 to 10 days. So I'm told, anyway.
I explained the surgery to her tonight by going through the booklet the
surgeon dropped off. No one had bothered to go through it with her. I
like it because it had pictures to help her visualize, plus I showed
her on *my* body where things might be happening. Ya know, if ya
*gotta* have a problem with your back, L1 is actually a pretty good
place. She's going to be fused from T11 through L3. If you put your
hand about one hand-width above your natural waist, that's roughly
where it is. Now, bend over. See, that area doesn't move that much to
*begin* with. She really won't be losing that much flexibility! :)
Here's an explanation of her surgery:
http://tinyurl.com/ycp8vj
and
http://tinyurl.com/yejetj
(click on the links to get visual aids on different aspects of the
proposed procedure)
Now, footie news! Improvement today!!! Sharon could wiggle her toes
(weakly)...*all* of them today! Barely with the baby toe, but we expect
that. Remember, from the trunk out to the end of the extremity, and
from the middle of the body outwards. She's right on schedule. Today's
BIG news - Sharon could *flex* the toes *and* push (very weakly)
against my hand!!! She's got diminished sensation, but things are
coming along so nicely that I have high hopes for a full recovery! The
pamphlet did say that recovery time is expected to be about 6 months to
a year, but I think they're talking overall. If we can get Sharon ready
to come home in 20 days after she leaves the hospital, we're fine. Then
we can either do outpatient therapy or have in-home for a while, at
least. We'll see.
The best thing about the surgery is that they won't have to mess with
anything *in* the spinal canal itself, so there shouldn't be any reason
to have any further damage, at least! They're planning to get her at
least sitting up on the edge of the bed on Wednesday. I've been asked
to bring some T-shirts to put under her Xena brace (not a brand name, the thing just makes her look like the Warrior Princess. <G>). Her nurse and I
were teasing Sharon about how we were going to dress it up with glue
and sequins and rhinestones...hee hee hee
I was talking to her nurse out by the nurse's station and explaining
how amazing it is that Sharon's been able to make herself understood so
well. They haven't had to call me at all, which is such fabulous
progress that I don't even know how to express it. Sharon's always
thought that those of us closest to her have been sort of patting her on the
head where the talking is concerned - that we weren't really being
honest with her. Yeah, well, now she KNOWS differently. She's had 2 or
3 nurses daily; physical, occupational, and respiratory therapists
daily; several physicians and one surgeon; two different social
workers; some student nurses; the dieticians; the housekeeping and
kitchen staff...and she's been able to communicate with every single
one of them! :)
They've got Sharon using EzPAP - I've never seen it before. I thought
they were giving her a nebulizer treatment, but the respiratory
therapist explained it to me. Too cool! Apparently, it exercises the
lungs, sort of like trying to breathe with the wind blowing in your
face on a blustery autumn day. If you wanna take a look, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/y2d3mn
I'll be going in to see Herself before surgery and then going back
after she gets out of Recovery. She *might* have to go to ICU for a
bit, but we don't really think so. She's not had any history of
anesthesia difficulties. Of course, she's never had a multi-hour
operation after a catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke, either. Still, this
is *Sharon* we're talking about...<G> I'm just concerned that she might
not be able to tell them that she feels ill afterward, so I need to
make it very, VERY clear that Sharon is aphasic. I know it hasn't been
much of an issue so far, but when you're out of it on Versed, fentanyl,
and whatever else they're gonna use, it can be kind of difficult to
make yourself understood...so I think we'll try to come up with some
kind of plan for a signal. I just remember when I came out of my last
surgery, I was horribly sick to my stomach. Of course, I don't think
they're going to use curare on Sharon...gonna have to ask about that
tomorrow.
Shall post as soon as I get home after seeing her. I just want to see
that she's okay with my own eyes. I know it sounds stupid, and she's
not even going to remember that I was there, but it's just something I
need to do.
Oh, I got the number for the patient advocate tonight. I'm going to
give the department a call tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm just curious
about what legal ramifications not following a PoA can have. I've not
been informed of medication changes (they switched a bunch of them
around, which pisses me off...and this AFTER I made sure they had a
copy of the med list I have, which does list the times and dosages of
each friggin' medication...it's not so g-d DIFFICULT, people - she
takes something after breakfast, after dinner, or at bedtime...don't go
changing our system!!! Now I gotta see if I can get them to change a
couple of things around, because they're all messed up. Grrrrrrr...one
of the things whoever her nurse is tomorrow morning is going to do is
go over the list with me item by item. We had to get her to change the
times on the Trileptal tonight, because Sharon *feels* better on it the
way we do it (which was decided upon after a long series of trials with
different times and dosages) - they have her on 600 twice a day, while
we had her on 600 in the morning and 300 after dinner and at bedtime.
This leaving me out of the loop stuff is getting on my last nerve.
Oh, yeah - is it LEGAL to have someone who's got a PoA to 'sign' (by
making an 'x') an informed consent??? I know he could say that I gave
consent from last Friday, but they actually had *Sharon* sign
something. Isn't that going to be an interesting question for their
patient advocate??? (can you tell I'm feeling very, very, very
sarcastic about this just at the mo'???)
I took Sharon the junk food I promised her last Friday. I decided that,
since she was going to have something done that she's never had done
before, we'd have dinner from someplace we'd never eaten before. Anyone
know Checkers? Decent food!
Okay, that's about all I got. Gonna take puppies out one more time and
then head for bed. I've got to be back at the hospital in about 10
hours...so it's time for Mikster to get some well-deserved rest!!!
Good thoughts appreciated tomorrow!!! Will post as soon as I know
anything at all, k?
Hugaroos,
Mikster, Princess Cookie, Mystie, Rusty, SPIKE!, and Mugsy Malone (from
the Little Duplex Near the Corner)
Sharon's surgery is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CDT tomorrow (Tuesday (or
Wednesday, for those of you across the international date line)). I've
been told it'll take about 4 to 6 hours, depending on how involved it
gets. The worst part is apparently the pain from where the pelvic bone
is harvested. That hurts pretty much for a while, but should improve
dramatically over about the first 7 to 10 days. So I'm told, anyway.
I explained the surgery to her tonight by going through the booklet the
surgeon dropped off. No one had bothered to go through it with her. I
like it because it had pictures to help her visualize, plus I showed
her on *my* body where things might be happening. Ya know, if ya
*gotta* have a problem with your back, L1 is actually a pretty good
place. She's going to be fused from T11 through L3. If you put your
hand about one hand-width above your natural waist, that's roughly
where it is. Now, bend over. See, that area doesn't move that much to
*begin* with. She really won't be losing that much flexibility! :)
Here's an explanation of her surgery:
http://tinyurl.com/ycp8vj
and
http://tinyurl.com/yejetj
(click on the links to get visual aids on different aspects of the
proposed procedure)
Now, footie news! Improvement today!!! Sharon could wiggle her toes
(weakly)...*all* of them today! Barely with the baby toe, but we expect
that. Remember, from the trunk out to the end of the extremity, and
from the middle of the body outwards. She's right on schedule. Today's
BIG news - Sharon could *flex* the toes *and* push (very weakly)
against my hand!!! She's got diminished sensation, but things are
coming along so nicely that I have high hopes for a full recovery! The
pamphlet did say that recovery time is expected to be about 6 months to
a year, but I think they're talking overall. If we can get Sharon ready
to come home in 20 days after she leaves the hospital, we're fine. Then
we can either do outpatient therapy or have in-home for a while, at
least. We'll see.
The best thing about the surgery is that they won't have to mess with
anything *in* the spinal canal itself, so there shouldn't be any reason
to have any further damage, at least! They're planning to get her at
least sitting up on the edge of the bed on Wednesday. I've been asked
to bring some T-shirts to put under her Xena brace (not a brand name, the thing just makes her look like the Warrior Princess. <G>). Her nurse and I
were teasing Sharon about how we were going to dress it up with glue
and sequins and rhinestones...hee hee hee
I was talking to her nurse out by the nurse's station and explaining
how amazing it is that Sharon's been able to make herself understood so
well. They haven't had to call me at all, which is such fabulous
progress that I don't even know how to express it. Sharon's always
thought that those of us closest to her have been sort of patting her on the
head where the talking is concerned - that we weren't really being
honest with her. Yeah, well, now she KNOWS differently. She's had 2 or
3 nurses daily; physical, occupational, and respiratory therapists
daily; several physicians and one surgeon; two different social
workers; some student nurses; the dieticians; the housekeeping and
kitchen staff...and she's been able to communicate with every single
one of them! :)
They've got Sharon using EzPAP - I've never seen it before. I thought
they were giving her a nebulizer treatment, but the respiratory
therapist explained it to me. Too cool! Apparently, it exercises the
lungs, sort of like trying to breathe with the wind blowing in your
face on a blustery autumn day. If you wanna take a look, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/y2d3mn
I'll be going in to see Herself before surgery and then going back
after she gets out of Recovery. She *might* have to go to ICU for a
bit, but we don't really think so. She's not had any history of
anesthesia difficulties. Of course, she's never had a multi-hour
operation after a catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke, either. Still, this
is *Sharon* we're talking about...<G> I'm just concerned that she might
not be able to tell them that she feels ill afterward, so I need to
make it very, VERY clear that Sharon is aphasic. I know it hasn't been
much of an issue so far, but when you're out of it on Versed, fentanyl,
and whatever else they're gonna use, it can be kind of difficult to
make yourself understood...so I think we'll try to come up with some
kind of plan for a signal. I just remember when I came out of my last
surgery, I was horribly sick to my stomach. Of course, I don't think
they're going to use curare on Sharon...gonna have to ask about that
tomorrow.
Shall post as soon as I get home after seeing her. I just want to see
that she's okay with my own eyes. I know it sounds stupid, and she's
not even going to remember that I was there, but it's just something I
need to do.
Oh, I got the number for the patient advocate tonight. I'm going to
give the department a call tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm just curious
about what legal ramifications not following a PoA can have. I've not
been informed of medication changes (they switched a bunch of them
around, which pisses me off...and this AFTER I made sure they had a
copy of the med list I have, which does list the times and dosages of
each friggin' medication...it's not so g-d DIFFICULT, people - she
takes something after breakfast, after dinner, or at bedtime...don't go
changing our system!!! Now I gotta see if I can get them to change a
couple of things around, because they're all messed up. Grrrrrrr...one
of the things whoever her nurse is tomorrow morning is going to do is
go over the list with me item by item. We had to get her to change the
times on the Trileptal tonight, because Sharon *feels* better on it the
way we do it (which was decided upon after a long series of trials with
different times and dosages) - they have her on 600 twice a day, while
we had her on 600 in the morning and 300 after dinner and at bedtime.
This leaving me out of the loop stuff is getting on my last nerve.
Oh, yeah - is it LEGAL to have someone who's got a PoA to 'sign' (by
making an 'x') an informed consent??? I know he could say that I gave
consent from last Friday, but they actually had *Sharon* sign
something. Isn't that going to be an interesting question for their
patient advocate??? (can you tell I'm feeling very, very, very
sarcastic about this just at the mo'???)
I took Sharon the junk food I promised her last Friday. I decided that,
since she was going to have something done that she's never had done
before, we'd have dinner from someplace we'd never eaten before. Anyone
know Checkers? Decent food!
Okay, that's about all I got. Gonna take puppies out one more time and
then head for bed. I've got to be back at the hospital in about 10
hours...so it's time for Mikster to get some well-deserved rest!!!
Good thoughts appreciated tomorrow!!! Will post as soon as I know
anything at all, k?
Hugaroos,
Mikster, Princess Cookie, Mystie, Rusty, SPIKE!, and Mugsy Malone (from
the Little Duplex Near the Corner)